The present invention relates to automotive bumper systems having beams and energy absorbers located on faces of the beams.
Many vehicle designs use energy absorbers positioned on a face or front surface of a steel bumper beam to improve energy absorption of a bumper system. The energy absorbers provide an initial level of energy absorption for low impact, including reducing damage during low impact, and also provide a supplemental level of energy absorption during high impact (i.e. before and at the time that the beam and vehicle begin to absorb substantial amounts of energy). Usually, the energy absorbers are fastened to the bumper beam with fasteners that assure accurate positioning of the energy absorber on the beam. The reasoning includes accurately positioning the energy absorber on the bumper beam to assure consistent performance, as well as to assure accurate positioning for aesthetics and assembly (e.g. to assure a good fit of the front-end fascia over the energy absorber and beam during assembly).
However, improvements are desired in terms of temporary and permanent attachment, and for improved and more reliable energy absorption. Typically, attachment of the energy absorber to bumper beams requires a plurality of mechanical fasteners. This is disadvantageous since mechanical fasteners require manual labor to install, which can add undesirably to cost. Also, the mechanical fasteners can result in localized and non-uniform stress distribution during impact, resulting in inconsistent collapse of the bumper system and poor energy absorption on impact. Further, fixing the energy absorber to the beams results in an inability of the energy absorber to shift and adjust to non-perpendicular and uneven loads transmitted from the impacting bodies. At the same time, depending on the bumper system, sometimes shifting of an energy absorber is not good since it can result in unpredictable, premature and non-uniform collapse, resulting in poor or inconsistent energy absorption by the bumper system.
Improvement is also desired for corner impact structure on bumper systems. Many existing bumper systems require that a front surface of an end of a bumper beam be shaped at an increased angle relative to the front of rest of the bumper beam to match an aerodynamic curvature of the vehicle at its front fender. One way to achieve this is by miter cutting an end of the bumper beam at an angle, and thereafter welding a plate onto the angled end to form a compound-angled flat front surface for supporting an energy absorber such as a foam cushion. Another way is to deform or crush an end of the bumper beam to form an angled front surface. Yet another way is to weld a bracket onto an end of the bumper beam, with the bracket extending longitudinally beyond the bumper beam to form the desired shape. However, all of these alternatives have drawbacks. For example, they each require a secondary operation, result in increased dimensional variation, and require significant investment in capital equipment. Further, they can lead to increased scrap, a substantial increase in manpower and manufacturing time, and substantial increase in inventories and work in process.
For all of the above reasons, there is a desire for bumper systems that yield a better, more consistent, more reliable, and greater impact energy absorption, both for low and high impact events, and also for square and skewed impact directions. Also, there is a desire for improvements facilitating assembly of an energy absorber to a beam, with lower cost and fewer parts, and with less labor. Still further, there is a desire for energy absorber designs that allows adjustment and tuning for optimal front end and corner impact strengths, even late in the bumper development program, and yet that do not require expensive or complex molding techniques or assembly techniques nor secondary miter cutting or crush forming bumper end sections. Still further, there is a desire for energy absorber designs that are adaptable for use with many different bumper beam cross-sectional shapes and sizes. Also, energy absorber designs are desired that are flexible and usable on non-linear bumper beams having different curvatures and longitudinal sweeps, and having different cross sections.